I think the main factor that may be cutting into the LE sales, by established collectors, is the number of new limited pieces introduced each year.
How many people really have the room for 25 new ones each year????

I have no where near to a complete collection and I'm out of room now with a few new pieces still in their boxes in a closet. And I have no place to put the Christmas pieces this year. I have no place left in the house for display cabinets and don't plan on buying a larger home just for lighthouses. Rotating pieces is just too much of a hassle.

I like the LLOM's and have a small curio's worth of them and ornaments. They are certainly easier to display. If they had been available when I first became aware of HL I can't say that I might not have been attracted to purchase them rather than the LE's. Since I don't have any of the older, more valuable pieces, I doubt that the value of my LE collection has increased over the years. If anything it's decreased.

Given the state of the collectible market, what is the real advantage to purchasing LE's?